Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 41664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Silence stretched in the room, broken only by the lazy whir of the ceiling fan. Kane’s tone had been matter-of-fact, but underneath it, I heard something fiercer. Pride. And the unspoken truth that without Jax, the Redline Kings wouldn’t have been able to build what they had in Crossbend.
I sat frozen, my coffee cooling in my hands. Suddenly, the quiet intensity that always clung to Jaxton made sense. The shrewdness. How he always seemed to be ten steps ahead. He wasn’t just the man at a keyboard—he was the foundation they all leaned on.
Callie nudged me with her foot, grinning. “Makes sense now, doesn’t it?”
Savannah’s smile softened. “You picked one of the good ones, Lark. Scary as heck when he wants to be, but good.”
The knot in my chest tightened again. Pride curled through me, fierce and startling, but so did fear. Because if he was the piece holding everything up…what happened if he broke?
Kane slid his hands under Savannah’s butt and lifted her onto his lap, wrapping his arms tightly around her. “Who’re you calling scary?”
“Not you, that’s for sure.” She rolled her eyes with a laugh. “You lost any chance of intimidating me when you rubbed my feet while I was pregnant.”
Kane leaned back and patted the officer patch on his cut. “I wouldn’t have this if I wasn’t a scary motherfucker.”
“To everyone else but Kylan and me, sure,” she quickly agreed.
He nuzzled his face in her neck with a growl that caught their son’s attention. Climbing onto Savannah’s lap with a giggle, he copied his daddy, growling and burying his face between his mom’s breasts.
“Hey, little man.” Kane lifted Kylan over their heads, earning himself another giggle. Those are mine now.”
Savannah rolled her eyes. “Only because your kid’s appetite was too much for me to keep up with.”
Callie nudged me with her foot again, smirking. “You’re in trouble, you know.”
“Why?” I blinked.
“Because a man like that?” She tipped her chin toward Kane. “He doesn’t let go once he’s claimed something. And from the look of it, Jax is the same.”
I hoped she was right because for the first time in years, I let myself lean into the warmth of it all and felt like I belonged here too.
13
JAX
Engines thundered across the track, the smell of burnt rubber and exhaust thick in the late morning heat. Break Point was chaos—techs shouting, wrenches clattering against asphalt, and radios buzzing in half a dozen pockets. Races didn’t start for another hour, but the place always felt like it ran on high gear, adrenaline bleeding into everything.
I had my eyes everywhere. Or at least I thought I did.
Lark had insisted on helping with some of the last-minute prep—even after we explained that these races were…less than legal. Sorting paperwork at the pit tables, double-checking that the ushers knew where to stand once the crowd rolled in. She was competent as hell, focused and sweet at the same time, like the calm in a storm I didn’t realize I’d been craving until I had it.
And then a roar split the air.
My head jerked up just in time to see a motorcycle cut wrong through the paddock lane—too fast, weaving where no bike should’ve been. Some idiot not paying attention, or someone drunk on power and fuel. Either way, it tore straight toward the registration table. Straight toward her.
“Lark!”
She froze for a split second, clipboard clutched to her chest, eyes wide as the bike fishtailed closer. My heart dropped out of my chest.
I was already moving, my boots pounding against the pavement, every muscle firing on instinct. She stumbled back, barely avoiding the bumper of a parked car, the motorcycle missing her by inches as I grabbed her around the waist and yanked her against me. The wind from the bike as it tore past us blew her hair into my face, the stench of gas and scorched tire choking the air as the rider gunned it down the lane and disappeared before I could even clock a plate.
Fuck!
Lark’s breath hitched hard against my chest. Mine wasn’t much better. My arms locked around her as if I let go for even a second, the world would split wide open and take her with it.
“Holy shit,” I rasped against her hair. My heart hammered so violently it felt like it wanted out of my chest. “I could’ve lost you.”
She tilted her face up, still pale, her lips parted.
“I’m okay,” she whispered, but the tremor in her voice shredded me.
“No,” I bit out, my voice low and harsh. “You’re not. You almost died because I—”
I stopped, my jaw clenched so tight I thought it might crack. But I couldn’t hold it back anymore. The truth had teeth, and it ripped out of me.
“I should’ve told you sooner.” My hand remained splayed across her back like I could anchor her to the earth. “The night I went digging into your file, I tripped an alarm. Not just the marshals—someone else was watching. Someone dangerous. We thought we had time to find them before they found you. But we must have missed something. They’re fucking here, Lark. They know where you are.”